Wooden shipping containers

ABSTRACT

A wooden shipping container has the edges of its walls adhesively secured in channels formed in metal corner pieces, each corner piece extending substantially the length of the edges received therein and presenting a pair of channels which face at an angle to one another, at least one of said channels having a reinforced base in certain embodiments.

United States Patent [1 1 [111 3,724,71 Barkow [45] Ar. 3, 1973 541WOODEN SHIPPING CONTAINERS 2,378,267 6/1945 Waller ..217/69X Inventor:August Barkow, South Street, Milwaukee, W15. 53219 214,534 4 1924GreatBritain ..2l7/69 [221 Flled Oct-2,1970 24,454 10/1897 Great Britain..217/69 21 App1.No.: 77,665

Primary Examiner-William T. Dixson, Jr. Attorney-Morse" & Morsell s2U.S.Cl ..2l7/65,217/69 51 Int. Cl. .msa 9/34 [581FieldofSearch..2l7/65,69,l2,l2A; [57] ABSTRACT 287/2092 D, 189.36 H; 52/580, 582, 584A wooden shipping container has the edges of its walls adhesivelysecured in channels formed in metal corner [56] References Cited pieces,each corner piece extending substantially the length of the edgesreceived therein and presenting a UNITED STATES PATENTS pair of channelswhich face at an angle' to one 2,578,644 12/1951 Mautner ..2l7/65another, at least one of said channels having a reinl,6l5,972 2/ 1927Bowers"... ..287/20.92 D forced base in certain embodiments.

531,639 1/1895 Palica ..2l7/69 1,972,396 9/1934 Woroniecki ..2l7l65 1Claim, 9 Drawing Figures PATENTEBAPRS ms INVENTOR AU GUST 6. BA RKOWATTORNEYS I WOODEN SHIPPING CONTAINERS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1.Field of the Invention The present invention pertains to wooden shippingcontainers of a type which are particularly suitable for use in exportshipments where container strength and protection for the contents aredesired.

2. Description of the Prior Art In export shipments or in shipmentshaving similar requirements it has been customary to crate the articlein ordinary lumber, using nails and banding; or where plywood has beenemployed, it has been necessary to use wooden cleating to bridge overthe edges of the plywood at the corners, and it has also been necessaryto reinforce such containers by the use of wooden battens in order togive sufficient strength and facilitate assembly. In addition, in manyinstances it has been necessary to protect the contents with an innerwrapping of vinyl, polyethylene, or paper. All of this procedure isexpensive, as the preparation of wooden cleats and battens requiresadditional time. Also a substantial amount of nailing is required, whichadds to the expense of both labor and material. In addition, theexternal cleats and battens necessarily project beyond the walls of thecontainer to increase the external dimensions thereof, which increasesshipping expense.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a woodenshipping container which can be formed of inexpensive plywood wherein,at the corners of the box, the plywood edges are 'adhesively secured inchannels formed in metal corner pieces, each metal corner pieceextending the length ofits received edges and presenting a pair ofchannels which face at an angle with respect to one another, the walledges being secured in said channels, preferably by adhesive,'to producean extremely strong container. I

A further Object of the invention is to provide a construction as abovedescribed in which the bottom of at least one of the channels'is ofdouble thickness to reinforce the comer piece and provide strength atthe corners.

A further object of the invention is to provide a shipping containerconstruction which eliminates the necessity of using nails, eliminatesthe necessity of separately preparing cleats and battensto savesubstantially in labor and materials, and which eliminates the increasein external dimensions which results from use of cleats and battens. s

A further object of the invention is to provide a shipping containerhaving novel corner pieces which eliminate the necessity of banding thecontainer and which addsufficient strength and rigidity as to permit useof low grade sheeting or plywood.

tion consists of the improved shipping container, and

away; FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a portion of one of the all of itsparts and combinations, as set forth in claims, and all equivalentsthereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawing, in whichthe same reference numerals designate the same parts in all of theviews:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a shippingfcontainer constructed inaccordance with the present invention;

. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an opened container looking into theinterior thereof;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view through the verticalcorners of the container of FIG. 2 showing the corner construction,parts being broken the corner pieces;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a'corner piece of modifiedconstruction; 7

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of an extruded type of corner piececonstituting another modification;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view through the corner of a containershowing a modified type of corner construction for maintaining walls atan obtuse angle with respect to one another;

FIG. 8 is a similar view showing a modifled corner construction forholding container walls at an acute angle with respect to one another,and V FIG. 9 is asimilar view showing another modification.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the

. shipping container comprises end walls 10 and 11 of A further objectof-the invention is to provide a shipping container construction havingnovel corner pieces presenting channels within which the edges of theplywood are adh'esively secured, to thereby provide a relativelywaterproof container construction. V

A more specific object of the invention is to provide ashippingcontainer having novel corner pieces which, in the preferredform of the invention, are each formed of two strips of metal'which maybe of rolled form, one

strip being L-shaped in cross section and the other strip plywood orother inexpensive wooden sheet material,

side walls 12 and 13, a bottom wall 14, and a top wall 15. The walls areassembled and held together by the novel metal corner pieces 7 16 to behereinafter described in detail. In-the preferred form of the inventionthe corner pieces are formed of rolled steel and, in the preferred formof the invention illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, each corner pieceincludes a strip of steel 17 rolled into L- form having a relativelylong base 18 and an angularlybent flange 19 which is usually bent at aright angle. The other strip of steel 20 is a Z-strip rolled into asocalled Z cross section. It includes parallel flanges 21 and 22connected by webbing 23. The Z-strip has'a width approximately equal tothe width of the base 18 of the L-strip and is nested therein inthemanner shown in FIG. 4 with the flange 22 positioned against saidbase and providing double thickness at the base of the formed channel24, it being noted that the arrangement of strips also provides achannel 25 which faces at an angle with respect to the direction of thechannel 24, usually at a right angle. In the preferred form of theinvention, the flange 22 is spot welded to the base portion 18 of theother strip as at 26 (FIG. 4).

As a modification, the corner piece may be rollformed from one piece ofmaterial as shown in FIG. 5. Here all of the common parts are designatedby the same reference numerals used in FIG. 4 preceded by the digit 1.It will be noted that in this form of the invention double thickness isformed by the layer 122, and there is also a double thickness providedfor the flange 1 19. In this form of the invention it is unnecessary tospot weld.

FIG. 6 shows a modified corner piece which may be formed of extrudedmaterial such as extruded aluminum. In such a construction the channels224 and 225 correspond to the channels 24 and 25 of FIG. 4 but there isno end abutment arrangement. Here there are inner and outer L's 227 and228 connected by diagonal webbing 229 at the corners. In addition thereare stop .ribs 230 forming abutments for the edges of the plywood.

While most shipping containers require walls disposed at right angles toone another, occasions sometimes arise where either an obtuse or anoblique angled relationship is desired. With the present invention theimproved corner piece may be readily designed as shown in FIG. 7 so thatthe corner piece 316 presents a channel 324 which is at an obtuse anglewith respect to the channel 325. Likewise, if an acute-angledrelationship is desired, corner pieces may be made as shown in FIG. 8wherein the corner piece 416 has a channel 424 which is disposed at anacute angle with respect to the channel 425.

In the modification of FIG. 9 the corner piece is formed by two channels524 and 525, with the side flange 535 of one channel being spot weldedto the bottom flange 536 of another channel. This form of the inventionis used in the same way as the form of the invention of FIG. 3.

In assembling a shipping container, the end walls 10 and 11 are of athickness to be snugly received in the channels 24 of the corner pieces,and the side walls 12 and 13 are of a thickness to be snugly received inthe channels of the corner piece. Before insertion, the edges of thewalls or the interior of the channels, or both, are coated with asuitable adhesive such as an epoxy adhesive which is capable of securingwood to metal. When the adhesive sets the walls will be firmly united atthe comers. To assemble the bottom 14, its edges are inserted andadhesively connected in the channel portions 24 of the corner pieces onall four edges. Thereafter the lower edges of the side and rear wallsmay be inserted in the channels 25 of the corner pieces which have beenpreviously attached to the bot- I tom, suitable adhesive being employed.Where it is desired to have a sealed top, the top of the container mayhave its edges adhesively secured in the channels wise secured in placeinstead of using the corner pieces proof. It is also apparent that thereare no projecting cleats and battens and that, therefore, the externaldimension of the shipping container is substantially reduced by theamount of projections of the usual cleats and battens. Thustransportation expense is reduced.

It is also clear that the container may be assembled without use ofnails (unless a readily-removable nailed top is desired). This featureresults in a saving of the cost of nails, and a saving in the verysubstantial amount of labor usually required to do the nailing. Inaddition, with the present invention there is no need for expenditure oftime to pre-prepare cleats and battens as is now customary. Theparticular cross-sectional form shown in FIG. 4 with the Z-shaped stripnested within the L-shaped strip, gives remarkable strength at thecorners which could not be obtained with an ordinary metal corner angle.This type of construction, therefore, adds rigidity to the plywood andmakes it entirely practical to utilize inexpensive plywood or sheeting.By having a sealed top with comer pieces employed to secure the top inplace, as in FIG. 1, a substantially waterproof construction is producedbecause of the novel corner pieces and the use of the adhesive in thechannels. When the top is thus installed it is unnecessary to shroud andprotect the contents with vinyl, polyethylene or paper.

Due to the unusual strength of the construction, banding is not needed.

When the container arrives at its destination and after the contentshave been removed, the plywood material can be readily separated andreused for various purposes. This is to be distinguished from nailedshipping containers where there is a considerable problem in disposingof the entire container because disassembly into its flat componentsrequires the expenditure of too much time.

It is to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the exactdetails of construction shown and described, for obvious modificationswill occur to a person skilled in the art.

What I claim is:

1. In a wooden shipping container having a pair of wooden walls at anangle to one another, a metal corner piece having a first channel snuglyreceiving the edge of one wooden wall and extending therealong, andhaving a second channel facing at an angle with respect to said firstchannel and snugly receiving an edge of the other wooden wall, anadhesive coating between all contacting surfaces of said channels andwooden walls producing a substantially waterproof construction andforming the sole means for securing the edges of the walls within thechannels, said metal corner piece comprising afirst metal portion ofL-shaped cross section having a relatively long base and a shorter,angularlybent flange with a corner bend therebetween, and a second metalportion which is of Z cross section nested therein and comprisingspaced, parallel flanges connected by webbing, one of said parallelflanges extending along part of the width of the base of the L-shapedportion and having an edge terminating at said comer bend of the'L-Shaped portion and forming a double thickness at the bottom of one ofsaid channels, there being spot welding intermediate the width of saiddouble thickness portion securing the two metal portions of the cornerpiece together.

1. In a wooden shipping container having a pair of wooden walls at anangle to one another, a metal corner piece having a first channel snuglyreceiving the edge of one wooden wall and extending therealong, andhaving a second channel facing at an angle with respect to said firstchannel and snugly receiving an edge of the other wooden wall, anadhesive coating between all contacting surfaces of said channels andwooden walls producing a substantially waterproof construction andforming the sole means for securing the edges of the walls within thechannels, said metal corner piece comprising a first metal portion ofL-shaped cross section having a relatively long base and a shorter,angularly-bent flange with a corner bend therebetween, and a secondmetal portion which is of Z cross section nested therein and comprisingspaced, parallel flanges connected by webbing, one of said parallelflanges extending along part of the width of the base of the L-shapedportion and having an edge terminating at said corner bend of theL-shaped portion and forming a double thickness at the bottom of one ofsaid channels, there being spot welding intermediate the width of saiddouble thickness portion securing the two metal portions of the cornerpiece together.